The Osun government yesterday honoured the State Programme Manager of The Challenge Initiative (TCI), Dr. Adebusola Oyeyemi, with an award of recognition.
Oyeyemi was honored during a stakeholders’ meeting on “Sustaining Family Planning Intervention: Transitioning Osun Government to Self-Reliance” on Tuesday in Osogbo.
She was honored in appreciation of her outstanding and excellent leadership in program management, exceptional dedication, and commitment to advancing health initiatives.
Presenting the award, Dr. Akeem Bello, the Director of Public Health, commended Oyeyemi for her commitment to the advancement of family planning and reproductive health in the state.
Bello said her commitment and dedication would be remembered in the state.
Other members of the state TCI team who were honored included Mr. Funso Daniel, TCI Demand Generation, and Olatunde Raimi, TCI Technical Support Lead, Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation.
In response, Dr. Oyeyemi appreciated the state government for the honor.
She also thanked the TCI management team for their support and opportunity to serve.
Earlier, the state government said it would sustain the significant improvement it had achieved in family planning with the support of a non-governmental organization, The Challenge Initiative (TCI).
The Commissioner for Health, Jola Akintola, said this during a stakeholders’ meeting on “Sustaining Family Planning Intervention: Transitioning Osun Government to Self-Reliance” on Tuesday in Osogbo.
The program was organised by the state government in partnership with TCI.
Akintola said the state government’s partnership with TCI had led to a significant improvement in family planning uptake in the state.
Akintola said the state government remained committed to prioritizing family planning and reproductive health.
“We recognize the importance of family planning in achieving sustainable development and improving the health and well-being of our citizens,” he said.
“As we celebrate our achievements and recognize outstanding contributions, I urge us all to continue working together towards a future where every individual in the state will have access to quality family planning services.”
In her remarks, the State Family Planning Coordinator, Mrs. Ololade Abatan, said 76,008 men and women had taken up family planning in the last three years of TCI intervention in the state.
Abatan said this was a significant improvement in family planning uptake in the state before TCI intervention.
Dr. Taiwo Johnson, the Country Director of TCI, said there had been a gradual, remarkable improvement in family planning uptake in the state following TCI intervention.
Taiwo said that as the state government was transitioning to self-reliance in family planning, TCI wanted to see more women taking up family planning in the state.
She said that after three years of TCI intervention, the state would now start to fund and own its family planning programs.
“One of the things we mentioned when we started was that we wanted the state to reach the stage of sustainability, which basically means that the state will start funding and owning its family planning programs.
“So, after an average of three and a half years of TCI intervention, what it means is that Osun State will start funding its family planning programs to ensure the sustainability of the various achievements,” she said.
Also, Dr. OluKunle Omotoso, Senior Technical Advisor, TCI Nigeria, said the overall goal of TCI was to achieve self-reliance by scaling up family planning, leading to sustained improvement in urban health systems.
Omotoso, however, called on the state government to increase funding for family planning in the state.
He said the demand for family planning in the state was high, but there was a need for more funding for procurement of family planning commodities.
Omotoso also called on the state government to recruit more service providers to replace those retiring to meet the demands for family planning.
He urged the state government to sustain the gains it had achieved in the uptake of family planning in the state.
